My Antique Sewing Machines


These are the antique sewing machines in my posession. They are in working order and I love to sew on them. They produce fabulous stitches, even compared to my best "modern" machines.

Click on any of the small images to see larger versions, which will pop up in their own window.


Singer 128-23, from around 1950. From my research, I believe this mottled, matte finish was called a Godzilla finish, though I don't know why they named it that.

Singer 128-23, from around 1950. My husband had to replace the cord as the original had a scary ball of electrical tape hiding a birds nest of frayed copper wires, but once the cord was replaced it worked like a charm!

Singer 31-15, from 1927. Designed to be an industrial machine, it could be operated either by treadle or by external electric motor. Mine has an electric motor.

Singer 31-15, from 1927. Closeup of the front of the machine. Boy, has it seen it's fair share of abuse over the years. See how the paint is wearing off and the decals are mostly worn off?

Singer 31-15, from 1927. An image of the back of the machine. I believe that mechanical arm is to be connected to the knee bar for raising and lowering the presser foot, though I haven't figured out how to get that hooked up yet. :)

Singer 31-15, from 1927. Here is where the belt connects to the machine. The other end connects to the electric motor, though it could also connect to a treadle flywheel. Looks like I'll have to modify my table should I find a replacement flywheel as these holes are at the wrong position for that.

Singer 31-15, from 1927. Here is where the belt connects to the motor. It's a beast! You plug it in and the motor starts running (after making that industrial-motor-starting-up kind of noise!). Pushing the treadle pedal causes that little arm on the right to connect, which in turn spins the belt and runs the needle.

Singer 31-15, from 1927. This is simply a full shot of the whole pedal and motor assembly.

Singer 31-15, from 1927. Of course, now that I have her working, I couldn't resist doing some sample stitching! Here is a picture of the stitching she made. Boy are those stitches awesome! I can't wait to get working on a project with her!

This is a Singer 15-91 that my in-laws gave to me. According to the serial number, it was built in 1948. It's a fantastic machine! The decals are in near perfect condition, and the machine shines. I can't wait to give it a try.

Side image of the Singer 15-91. It's interesting how the tension disk was put on the back of the machine like that. I wonder why they did it that way?